“Women!” Cody muttered as he picked up Stevie’s duffel bag from the van. “They don’t ever forget anything.” He went to the sliding door and pushed it open a couple of inches to see just how fast the snow was falling. He could see tree limbs on the other side of the lane, which meant the storm was slowing down slightly. He started to shove the door closed, when he caught a blur of movement in his peripheral vision. The black-and-white kitten made a jump through the open space and landed on top of the snow banked up against the door. Another leap and the little ball of fur disappeared completely into the snowdrift.

Cody had only planned on making a quick trip to the van and back, so he hadn’t put on his gloves. But he couldn’t let Boots freeze to death out there in the snow. After all, he and Boots were the only two guys in the barn, and Cody felt like he could use all the support he could get. He dropped Stevie’s bag on the barn floor and opened the door just wide enough that he could slip out. Snow came up over his boot tops and filtered right down to his toes. He strained his ears, trying to hear the kitten’s cries, but couldn’t hear a thing except the tree limbs still breaking all around him. Snow clung to his eyelashes and his hair, and his hands were already freezing. He was about to give up, when he saw a slight indentation about two feet ahead of him, but snow was already filling in the hole.

Instantly, he was down on his knees and shoving his bare hand down into the cold snow, searching for the kitten. After feeling around and finding nothing, he thought he heard a slight meow. The sound was faint, but it was definitely a kitten, and it was coming from behind him. He turned to find Dolly and her other two babies at the doorway, staring at him as if they were begging him to find Boots.

“I’m trying.” He raised his voice and then noticed another little indentation six inches ahead of him. He reached out and sunk his hand into the snow again, found fur this time, and brought up Boots all covered in snow and limp as a dishrag.

Cody tucked the kitten into his coat close to his chest, hurried back inside the barn, and pushed the door shut. Dolly and her other two kittens went running to the safety of the tack room, and barely beat Cody.

“Boots got out of the barn and fell in a snowdrift. I tried to get to him faster but…” He laid the kitten on the sofa and jerked his coat off.